Production of concentrated alcohol and distillery slop

ABSTRACT

Concentrated alcohol and distillery slop are produced from fermented beer with a reduced amount of energy by employing a vapor recompression distillery slop evaporator in which evaporator vapors are used to strip alcohol from the fermented liquor before they are returned as the heat source for evaporation. Vents in the evaporator permit passage of uncondensed vapors used to drive the evaporator to a rectifier, in which they constitute the principal heat and alcohol source. Condensed vapors from the evaporator and the bottom stream from the rectifier are stripped of their remaining alcohol content in a condensate stripper, which is also driven by the recompressed vapors from the evaporator. This prevents dilution of the slops and the additional energy cost that would be necessary if the water content of these streams had to be removed in the slop evaporator.

This is a division of application Ser. No. 206,170, filed 11/12/80, nowU.S. Pat. No. 4,328,074.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved process and system forproducing alcohol by fermentation.

In a conventional plant for the production of alcohol by fermentation,the "beer" from the fermenters is sent first to a distillation column orcolumns. Here the alcohol is stripped from the beer and is concentratedto remove most of the water. The energy for stripping and concentratingthe alcohol comes from steam injected at the bottom of the column orcolumns. The spent beer from the distillation system is called"distillery slop" and has value as an animal feed if much of its watercontent is removed. Otherwise, its disposal could be a serious problem.Concentrating this slop to produce animal feed consequently has longbeen an industry practice, usually by the use of multiple-effectevaporators.

The energy requirement for producing alcohol with the conventionalprocess and system has been so high that the cost of producing thealcohol has been about the same as its fuel value.

More specifically, the distillation column in the conventional plant hastwo basic sections, the beer still and the rectifier. The beer still islocated below the point of beer addition, and steam is admitted at thebottom to strip out the alcohol. Alcohol losses with the slop can beminimized by increasing steam input or providing more plates or trays inthe beer still, but these expedients increase either capitalexpenditures or operating costs and therefore must be balanced againstthe increased recovery of alcohol.

Above the beer still is the rectifier section, which serves to separatealcohol from water, with the alcohol leaving at the top and the water,from both the beer and the added steam, leaving as a diluent of theslops at the bottom. The total distillation section may have on theorder of 50 plates and use on the order of 20 pounds of steam per gallonof 190 proof alcohol produced. The large number of plates requires sucha tall vessel height that the column is frequently split into twosections, one section being the beer still with about 20 plates and theother the rectifier with about 30 plates.

The slop withdrawn from the bottom of the beer still is thenconcentrated, usually by use of multiple effect evaporators, whichrequires still more energy. As indicated above, the amount of energynecessary for concentrating the alcohol and distillery slop presentlyhas about the same value as the alcohol that is produced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of theprior art by producing concentrated alcohol and distillery slop fromfermented beer with substantially less energy. This is accomplished byintegrating the alcohol distillation and slop concentration in a highlyefficient process and system employing a vapor recompression evaporatorfor slop concentration, by employing evaporator vapors as the strippingsteam for removing alcohol from the beer, by using the condensing sideof the evaporator heating surfaces as a means of enriching the alcohol,and by using the evaporator vents as the source of alcohol and of heatfor bringing the alcohol up to desired concentration.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious fromthe description or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained bymeans of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

To achieve the foregoing objects and in accordance with the purpose ofthe invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the process forproducing concentrated alcohol and distillery slop from fermented beerwith a reduced amount of energy according to the present inventioncomprises:

(a) feeding the beer to a beer still;

(b) feeding a portion of a water vapor derived from step (e)hereinbelow, to the still;

(c) withdrawing an alcohol-rich vapor as the overhead from the still;

(d) withdrawing an alcohol-poor distillery slop as the bottom streamfrom the still;

(e) passing the slop from the still to an evaporator to concentrate theslop by evaporating water vapor therefrom;

(f) passing the vapor from the overhead of the still to the evaporatorinto indirect heat exchange contact with the slop to condense a portionof the vapor and form a condensate;

(g) passing the condensate from the evaporator to a condensate stripperand withdrawing an alcohol-rich stream as the overhead from the stripperand an alcohol-poor stream as the bottom stream from the stripper;

(h) feeding a portion of the water vapor derived from step (e)hereinabove to the stripper;

(i) passing the uncondensed vapor from the evaporator to a rectifier andwithdrawing concentrated alcohol as the overhead from the rectifier andan alcohol-containing mixture as the bottom stream from the rectifier;

(j) passing the alcohol-containing mixture from the rectifier to thestripper for admixture with the condensate from the evaporator;

(k) passing at least a portion of at least one of the water vapor fromthe evaporator and the vapor from the still to a compressor to form acompressed vapor, the energy supplied to the compressor constituting aprimary source of energy to the process; and

(l) withdrawing the concentrated slop from the evaporator.

Preferably, the water vapor from the evaporator is passed to thecompressor to form the compressed vapor, which is then used as thesource of heat for the beer still and the condensate stripper. It isalso preferred to pass the alcohol-rich stream from the stripper to theevaporator for admixture with the vapor from the overhead of the still.It is also preferred, in accordance with the invention, that theevaporator comprise a plurality of stages in which the distillery slopis progressively concentrated.

Further to achieve the foregoing objects and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, thesystem for producing concentrated alcohol and distillery slop fromfermented beer with a reduced amount of energy according to theinvention comprises:

(a) a beer still;

(b) means for feeding the beer to the still;

(c) means for feeding a portion of the water vapor withdrawn fromevaporator means (f) hereinbelow, to the still;

(d) means for withdrawing an alcohol-rich vapor as the overhead from thestill;

(e) means for withdrawing an alcohol-poor distillery slop as the bottomstream from the still;

(f) evaporator means for concentrating the slop by evaporating watervapor therefrom;

(g) means for passing the slop from the still to the evaporator means;

(h) means for passing the vapor from the overhead of the still to theevaporator means into indirect heat exchange contact with the slop tocondense a portion of the vapor and form a condensate;

(i) condensate stripper means for separating the condensate into analcohol-rich overhead stream and an alcohol-poor bottom stream;

(j) means for passing the condensate from the evaporator means tocondensate stripper means;

(k) means for feeding a portion of the water vapor withdrawn from theevaporator means to the stripper means;

(l) rectifier means for separating uncondensed vapor from the evaporatormeans into a concentrated alcohol overhead stream and analcohol-containing mixture as a bottom stream;

(m) means for passing the uncondensed vapor from the evaporator means tothe rectifier means;

(n) means for passing the alcohol-containing mixture from the rectifiermeans to the stripper means for admixture with the condensate from theevaporator;

(o) compressor means for forming a compressed vapor;

(p) means for passing at least one of the water vapor from theevaporator means and the vapor from the still to the compressor means;and

(q) means for withdrawing the concentrated slop from the evaporatormeans.

Preferably means (p) comprises means for passing the water vapor fromthe evaporator means to the compressor means upstream of the beer still.It is also preferred to include means for passing the alcohol-richstream from the condensate stripper means to the evaporator foradmixture with the vapor from the overhead from the still. It is alsopreferred that the evaporator means comprise a plurality of stagesincluding means for passing concentrated slop from the first stage tosubsequent stages for further concentration.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one embodiment of the inventionand, together with the description, serve to explain the principles ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B, taken together (indicated as FIG. 1), are adiagrammatic general arrangement and process flow sheet of oneembodiment in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

The preferred embodiment of the system for producing concentratedalcohol and distillery slop from fermented beer with a reduced amount ofenergy according to the present invention is illustrated in thedrawings. "Fermented beer" can include, for example, ethanol-watermixtures. Beer is fed to beer still 1 through line 2 to form analcohol-rich vapor withdrawn as overhead stream 3 and an alcohol-poordistillery slop withdrawn as bottom stream 4. The driving force for theseparation in the beer still, as embodied herein, is compressed vaporsupplied through line 5. In accordance with the invention, thecompressor means for forming the compressed vapor is compressor 6.Alternatively, the compressor means may be located in line 3 downstreamof beer still 1 instead of or in addition to the compressor means shownin the drawing. Furthermore, a plurality of compressors may be employed,as described below.

In accordance with the invention, both the overhead and bottom streamsfrom the beer still are passed to an evaporator means. As embodiedherein, the evaporator means in accordance with the invention is fallingfilm evaporator 7. Other types of evaporators, however, may be employed.The distillery slop from the bottom of the still is concentrated in theevaporator by withdrawing water vapor from the slop in the evaporatorthrough line 8. The vapor from the overhead of the still is passed intoindirect heat exchange contact with the slop in the evaporator throughline 3 to condense a portion of the vapor and form a condensate whilevaporizing the volatile constituents in the slop. The slop isrecirculated through the evaporator heating element by means of pump 9and line 10.

In accordance with the invention, a portion of the vapor separated fromthe slop is passed through lines 8 and 5 to the beer still to providethe heat for stripping the alcohol from the beer. The vapor ispreferably first compressed in compressor 6. As is apparent from thedescription above, the vapor from the top of the beer still, carryingwith it the recovered alcohol, then serves as the heating medium for theslop evaporator. Since the heat in this vapor is used, there is nopenalty in having a much higher stripping steam flow through the beerstill, in the form of compressed vapor, then can be justified in theconventional process. Consequently, the beer still may have far fewerplates than usual while recovering more alcohol from the beer and losingless alcohol in the slops.

Moreover, as the alcohol-laden vapor condenses in the heating element ofthe evaporator, the water condenses preferentially, leaving a vaporstream enriched in alcohol. This enriched stream is then vented throughline 11 to the base of a rectifier means. As embodied herein, therectifier means is rectifier 12. The heat from the uncondensed vaporentering the rectifier serves as the driving force for separation of thealcohol in the vapor from the remaining water.

Water from the reflux in the rectifier plus the water condensed in theheating element of the evaporator contains appreciable amounts ofalcohol. This alcohol is recovered and recycled, in accordance with theinvention, by stripping with vapor from the evaporator, in the samemanner as in the beer still, by passage through condensate strippermeans. As embodied herein, the condensate stipper means is condensatestripper 13, to which the water is passed through lines 14, 15, and 16,preferably by use of condensate tank 17 and transfer pump 18. A portionof the vapor from the evaporator, preferably after passing throughcompressor 6, is passed to the stripper through line 19 to provide theheat for the stripper. In the condensate stripper also, alcohol lossesare minimized because there is no economic penalty in using as much ofthe vapor from the evaporator as desired for stripping. The alcohol-richstream withdrawn as the overhead from the stripper is passed eitherdirectly to the rectifier, or preferably to the evaporator for admixturewith the vapor from the overhead of the still and transfer of its heatto the slop. Passing the overhead from the stripper to the evaporator isfar more efficient. An advantage of operating according to eitheralternative as contrasted with the conventional process is that the"stream" used in the stripping and rectifying operation leaves as waterfrom the bottom stream of the condensate stripper instead of appearingas a diluent of the slops, which would then have to be removed in theslop evaporator at additional energy cost.

In another embodiment, the rectifier and condensate stripper canconstitute a single unit otherwise operating in a identical manner tothe separate rectifier and stripper. Thus, the "withdrawal" of thebottom stream from the rectifier in this embodiment is internal at thejunction between the rectifier and the stripper, and the passage of thecondensate from the evaporator to the stripper would occur at the samejunction.

The overhead stream 20 from rectifier 12, after reflux, is alcohol ofabout 190 proof. In the preferred embodiment, the overhead vapor fromthe rectifier is further distilled to produce 199+ proof ethanol in anazeotropic dehydration system 21. A hydrocarbon solvent may be added tobreak the azeotrope of ethanol and water. This solvent is then recoveredfrom the water along with remaining trace amounts of ethanol in ahydrocarbon stripper (not illustrated), which can be a smalldistillation column. The energy required to operate the dehydrationcolumn 22 can be supplied by condensing the overhead vapor from therectifier column in the dehydration column bottoms reboiler 23. Thereflux ratio in the rectifier column can be chosen so that required heatcan be supplied to the dehydration column. Vent steam from a slopsconcentrator evaporator, such as conveyed by line 24, can supply theadditional energy required to operate the hydrocarbon stripper.

Trim makeup steam may be provided to offset part of the heat lost inproviding reflux in the rectifier column. The primary source of energyto the system, however, is provided by compressor 6. The trim makeupsteam is the functional equivalent of the steam added at the base of thebeer still in the conventional process, but in the present invention isonly about 25% of the amount required in the conventional process. Thetrim steam may be added at any convenient location, but is preferablyadded as described below.

In accordance with the invention, the evaporator may constitute a singlestage from which the concentrated slop is withdrawn as a product. Sincehighly efficient recovery of alcohol from the slops and the condensateusually requires considerably less stripping steam than the total amountof water that must be evaporated to concentrate the slops, however, onlya part of the slop concentration duty need be integrated into thedistillation cycle. It is therefore preferred that the evaporatorcomprise a plurality of stages, the concentrated slop withdrawn from thefirst stage being passed to subsequent stages for further concentration.Each stage may have its own compressor for recompressing the vapor fromthe evaporator, or a single compressor may be employed as shown in thedrawings. The vapor may be recirculated directly to the evaporators or apart of the vapor may go through the strippers and then be returned toall or any number of the evaporators.

As embodied herein, the stillage from the beer still be fed to a filteror centrifuge (not illustrated) for suspended solids removal and thenslightly concentrated in preconcentrator evaporator 7. The remainder ofthe slops concentration is completed to the finished density in twoadditional evaporator stages: a two-stage falling-film evaporator 25 anda final slops concentrator 26. Energy to operate the two-stageevaporator is supplied by a portion of the compressed vapor or steamfrom the compressor 6. Plant steam, i.e. outside steam, is used to drivethe final concentrator and is the preferred source of the trim steam.This achieves two benefits: (1) the plant steam provides a largerdriving force (ΔT) to reduce heat transfer area requirements and (2) thesteam condensate can be returned to boilers without contamination.

Various other desirable features may be added to the system. Forexample, recovery heat exchangers between the beer still feed and eitherhot condensate leaving the system or rectifier overhead vapors, or both,may be used to preheat the beer. As embodied herein, the bottom streamfrom the condensate stripper and the condensate from the secondevaporator 25 are combined in return condensate tank 27, and passed bycondensate pump 28 and line 29 to heat exchanger 30.

The present invention has achieved significant energy savings in theproduction of concentrated alcohol from fermented beer. The solution tothis problem has eluded others in the industry, who have suggestedinstead saving the energy used to dry the slop by merely attempting todump the slop as it comes from the beer still. With the presentinvention, on the other hand, a dry slop is obtained that is moreconvenient to handle and suffers less from disposal, storage, andtransportation difficulties than slops produced by conventionalprocesses.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations could be made in the process and system ofthe invention without departing from the scope or spirit of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for producing concentrated alcohol and distillery slop from fermented beer with a reduced amount of energy comprising:(a) a beer still; (b) means for feeding said beer to said still; (c) means for feeding a portion of a water vapor, withdrawn from evaporating means (f) hereinbelow, to said still; (d) means for withdrawing an alcohol-rich vapor as the overhead from said still; (e) means for withdrawing an alcohol-poor distillery slop as the bottom stream from said still; (f) evaporator means for concentrating said slop by evaporating water vapor therefrom; (g) means for passing said slop from said still to said evaporator means; (h) means for passing said vapor from said overhead of said still to said evaporator means into indirect heat exchange contact with said slop to condense a portion of said vapor and form a condensate; (i) condensate stripper means for separating said condensate into an alcohol-rich overhead stream and an alcohol-poor bottom stream; (j) means for passing said condensate from said evaporator means to condensate stripper means; (k) means for feeding a portion of said water vapor withdrawn from said evaporator means to said stripper means; (l) rectifier means for separating uncondensed vapor from said evaporator means into a concentrated alcohol overhead stream and an alcohol-containing mixture as a bottom stream; (m) means for passing the uncondensed vapor from said evaporator means to said rectifier means; (n) means for passing said alcohol-containing mixture from said rectifier means to said stripper means for admixture with said condensate from said evaporator; (o) compressor means for forming a compressed vapor; (p) means for passing at least a portion of at least one of said water vapor from said evaporator means and said vapor from said still to said compressor means; and (q) means for withdrawing said concentrated slop from said evaporator means.
 2. A system according to claim 1, wherein means (p) comprises means for passing said water vapor from said evaporator means to said compressor means upstream of said beer still.
 3. A system according to claim 2, further comprising means for passing said alcohol-rich stream from said condensate stripper means to said evaporator for admixture with said vapor from said overhead from said still.
 4. A system according to claim 3, wherein said evaporator means comprises a plurality of stages including means for passing concentrated slop withdrawn from the first stage to subsequent stages for further concentration.
 5. A system according to claim 4, wherein said evaporator means comprises three stages and includes means for passing the water vapor from all three stages to said compressor means.
 6. A system according to claim 5, further comprising means for passing a portion of said compressed vapor to said second stage of said evaporator means into indirect heat exchange contact with said slop and means for passing outside steam to said third stage into indirect heat exchange contact with said slop.
 7. A system according to claim 5, further comprising heat exchange means for preheating said beer upstream of said beer still and means for passing at least one of said bottom stream from said stripper means and the condensate from said second stage of said evaporator means into indirect heat exchange contact with said beer. 